The lesson is clear. If you want to lead a political revolution from the left in the US

[MADem]

3. That whole "left" bullshit was a canard.

You go far enough left and you're in authoritarian right territory. This is a guy who, in his early years, wanted the government to regulate how many kinds of deodorant were "allowed" to be sold in stores (too much variety was confusing, or something), and who wanted government to control television content. He wrote SCREEDS about this shit.

He thought--no doubt because his constituency fits the mold--that he could run the ball up the middle, and snatch up all those Angry White Men, Fred Lunchbox and Harry Feedcap, those beer drinkin', gun ownin', grumbling guys who are "dissatisfied" for this reason or that. He thought he could marry them to the dewy-eyed idealistic youth who love the idea of "the rich" paying off their debts, but don't realistically envision the day when they might be the ones doling out the cash. He thought that his economic policy vision could solve all woes, including the woes that one endures if one is blessed with more melanin than the cop who is stopping you for no damn reason. He knew nothing of "inner city schools," he knew nothing about "food deserts," and "banking deserts" and "economic opportunity deserts." He thought everything could be solved with a fifteen dollar minimum wage across the country, from Mississippi to NYC, and by preventing "those foreigners" from "takin' our jerbs."

He looked at everything through the eyes of a seventy four year old white man with some old school ideas--and it showed. That's why he didn't cut it. He's not a mean guy, but he lacks true empathy and understanding of lives not like his own. He thinks that if HE thinks it's good, it IS good. He believes he is the default. He just can't relate to experiences that he has not endured. He tried, after BLM stumbling and other tone-deaf comments, but you could tell he wasn't really feeling it. He'd have to do a Trading Places Dan Ackroyd/Eddie Murphy switch--only with a black or latina WOMAN--to get the spirit, I think.

It's not surprising that he has so few friends in Congress. The fact that he could only get a few of them to pledge to serve as a super delegate on his behalf is probably the biggest alarm bell of all. If your co-workers, your own peers, won't back you, then they just might know something worth knowing....